No helipad space for Shinde

In a security lapse, Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had to cancel his visit to the R S Pura Assembly constituency...

In a security lapse, Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had to cancel his visit to the R S Pura Assembly constituency at the border after his helicopter hovered near the international border for about 10 minutes before returning to Jammu. The security agencies had failed to mark a helipad at Balachak village, where Shinde was scheduled to address an election rally.

Shinde took off from Jammu’s civil airport around 10 am. He stopped over at Sumb in Samba district, where he addressed a poll rally. He was scheduled to address the second rally at Kalyana in R S Pura, but his helicopter could not make a landing.

Party sources said the authorities had been informed about Shinde’s schedule well in advance. The minister, who was accompanied by senior party leaders R S Chib and S Gurmukh Singh, was reportedly informed that landing facility had been provided at Balachak village, two kilometres from the rally venue. But neither was the helipad space marked nor did the pilot receive any communication.

So after hovering over the area for nearly 10 minutes, the chopper moved on to Ghou Manahasan in Marh constituency, where Shinde addressed a rally. “The chopper couldn’t land as there was no helipad space marked,” confirmed Chib.

Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, M K Bhandari, said: “We took up the matter with the police. The Jammu SSP said the chopper couldn’t land due to bad weather. I was also told the R S Pura candidate didn’t inform the police in time about the venue of the meeting.”